This is awesome and incredible timely! Any chance you've tried the fronts? Also, the rubber disc you aligned to the new top hat, does that come with the new top hat or did you reinstall the one you removed from the strut in the earlier photo?

 

We put the correct Monroe Quick Struts on the front, unmodified. Our only concern, so far, is the sagging rear end. Partially from design and then from loading it full of equipment for work. We also install adjustable upper control arms to take care of the camber issue.

The rubber thing was removed from the complete strut assembly. And, of course, put back on. The only thing we change to get the CR-V strut to fit is the top hat. The bolt holes on the Element are farther apart than the CR-V and the diameter of the cone is larger.

 

We also install adjustable upper control arms to take care of the camber issue.

Hey Locksmith. Thanks for this whole thread. Helps a lot.

One quick question: Which adjustable upper control arms did you use?

Thanks again.

Pete

 

This is great. I also am getting ready to change my rear assemblies. I put a lot of weight in the back of my 04 EX AWD, so this looks great. Thanks Pierre for the info.

 

Checked it this morning and it settled about another 1/2 inch.

 

This is great if it will support a little more weight. It looks like the part number is the same for the 2010 E as the earlier years so this may be a good option for me. I wonder if the newer ones get less lift just because they have sagged less? How have the Monroes been holding up for you?

 

Locksmith: One Question, How does your E ride now with the new CRV rear struts?

I'm asking because one of the only two complaints I have with my Element is with the ride quality. Every CRV that I have ridden in rode much MUCH better than my Element does.

So with the similarity (if not direct interchangeability) of CRV to Element springs and struts, I was thinking of going with CRV components in my E; not so much for height or additional load capability, but for an improvement in ride quality.

Please let me know, Thanks! : - )

 

vadim

Pierre,

Since you've done a number of cars at this stage, can you comment on the longevity of the Monroe struts? I've replaced struts once, both front and rear, and went with OEM. Those have gone up in price since then, and if I have to do it again I'm not sure I'd want to spend that much, if I can get aftermarket quick struts that last.

Thanks

 

I'm confident it will support more weight. The CR-V spring has more coils and changing the top hat preloads the spring more.

We've average 100k miles out of the Monroes. Out of 13 E's, we've had one strut fail prematurely. We were averaging 60k with OEM.

It already rides much better but I still need an alignment.

For ride quality, it depends on application. I don't know how this would feel if the E was empty. Might be rough. Ours are always loaded down with equipment.

 

nice! i am using element rear springs on 2nd gen crv shocks and like you i reused my element top hats. are the crv rear springs really heavier rates? the 1" extra is nice but my rear end still squats the same amount as before the lift. it just doesn't look overloaded like before i lifted. planning on adding another 1-2 hundred lbs in the rear and looking for a solution...

i wanted to add. i have an 07 and i got 1" of lift from the crv rear shocks, nice to see you saw the same on yours

 

Here's the Monroe CR-V ones next to OEM Honda. The CR-V spring is considerably larger. And when swapping out the Element top it preloads the spring an inch at least. Add that to the extra coil and I'd say it's gonna be heavy duty.

 

This is with new Monroes all around. Correct ones in the front and the modified CR-V in the rear. Measuring from the ground to the fender, 30 & 1/2" front, 31 & 1/2" rear.

 

your reasoning makes sense to me.

how much weight in your work vehicles did you add? est? is most of it in the rear?

 

After removing the rear seats, we add around 400-500 lbs. Most of it is behind the wheels.

 

thank you locksmith. this could be what i need when i put the rear tire swing on...the crv coils

that picture in post 12 is of the element loaded right?

 

Yes

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Pierre, thanks a bunch for the Monroe/CRV strut info. I just slapped a pair together but used some SC Springs instead of CRV. Your FRANKEN-STRUT setup is great!
Ian

 

I too would really like to know the spring rate on the CRV springs. I would like to get Element struts and put on CRV springs to hopefully get stock ride height with more load capacity. I was contemplating SC springs but that may be too much based on this info from another thread.


Stock E estimated at 9kg front / 11kg rear which gives uneven jiggly ride on highway.
Stock E is Too stiff on front and too soft at rear.

Stock SC is rediculously high spring rates at estimated 12kg front / 16kg rear, similar to an Acura spring rate.

https://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161005

 

Call Monroe 734-384-7809. They should be able to tell you anything you want to know about their shocks and springs. That's how we found out we could use the CR-V for the E.

The Monroe Quick Strut for the Element already has a spring with one more coil than OEM. It may give you exactly what you're looking for.

I guess we'd need to find out the spring rate of the OEM spring also.

 

The spring rates for the CR-V are MUCH softer, especially in the front. I know this because I bought Dobinson 1.5" lift springs for the 2nd gen CR-V and put them on my Element to see if they would work. While they fit fine, the springs yielded a 0" lift in the front (so near identical rates to the stock Element) and only ~0.5" in the rear (so just over stock Element rates, though the CR-V rear spring is 20mm longer than the Element).

This would lead me to believe that the CR-V stock rates are even softer than that, since the lift is achieved with an increase in spring rate (as opposed to increased length)

 

clarification on spring rates

Locksmith, thank you for your research and providing this thread for us.

I need to clarify though that an extra coil means more material to flex, so if the spring is wound from the same gauge wire it will get "softer" as it gets longer and stiffer as it gets shorter. More coils equals a longer wire, more material, more flex.
The thicker wire helps make up for the extra coil.
The extra preload makes a difference too, but too much preload has its own problems.
The extra coil might help make up for the extra preload, I dont know.

You have a bunch of them and say this is a good solution if you keep your Element loaded with a few hundred pounds of weight. Your recommendation is good enough for me to give it a try. Most of the crap I read on internet forums is from people who have never done what they are recommending.

I just wanted to mention that an extra coil does not mean more load capacity.
Thanks again.

 

This is indeed true. More coils equals a softer spring rate, meaning less load capacity. The stock Element spring WILL fit on the CR-V shock though, so you can just run that if it fits your needs. This would actually prove to be a little cheaper since you'd only need the shock itself, and not the rest of the assembly.

 

That's so counter intuitive to me I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it.

Straight from Monroe's site "Coil spring strength, or rate, is determined by the length and diameter of the rod. Decreasing the diameter of the rod, the number of turns, and the tightness of the turns increases the strength of the spring. Increasing the rod diameter or the number of turns, or increasing the space between turns reduces spring strength."

So literally, less is more.

I posted this when we finally did the mod to my E. I got the extra ride height but the best thing I got out of it was the straight line handling. I always had a hard time keeping it in a straight line on the highway with the sagging rear end. Now I can relax and cruise. I have also noticed more travel in the rear but not in a bad way. Going over speed bumps and stuff, It feels more even. Equal amounts of travel even though the rear is loaded. It has not bottomed out.

Now I want to try the Monroe CR-V strut with the OEM Element spring and see how it works.

 

That's so counter intuitive to me I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it.

Straight from Monroe's site "Coil spring strength, or rate, is determined by the length and diameter of the rod. Decreasing the diameter of the rod, the number of turns, and the tightness of the turns increases the strength of the spring. Increasing the rod diameter or the number of turns, or increasing the space between turns reduces spring strength."

So literally, less is more.

I posted this when we finally did the mod to my E. I got the extra ride height but the best thing I got out of it was the straight line handling. I always had a hard time keeping it in a straight line on the highway with the sagging rear end. Now I can relax and cruise. I have also noticed more travel in the rear but not in a bad way. Going over speed bumps and stuff, It feels more even. Equal amounts of travel even though the rear is loaded. It has not bottomed out.

Now I want to try the Monroe CR-V strut with the OEM Element spring and see how it works.

Did you try the CRV struts with Element spring combo?

i noticed the crv FRONT coil also has less turns than the element

 

I love this because Old Man Emu fro n Australia makes a suspension lift kit for the CRV. This offers a lot of posibilities. So am I correct to think that CRV and Element springs are interchangeable?

 

Pretty much. The top hat is what's important.

 

I've got custom springs on order so I have suddenly taken a keen interest in all this spring stuff.

As the number of active coils increases, the spring rate decreases. If a spring's rate is linear (most racing springs have linear rates) its rate is not affected by the load put onto the spring. For example, a linear rate spring rated at 500#/inch will compress 1" when a 500# weight is placed onto the spring.

https://fastguys.weebly.com/uploads/9/0/4/5/9045988/coil_springs.pdf